Zone Minutes and Fat Burn

[CarlJoseph]

I've just done a brisk walk for over an hour, my heart rate averaged around 109bpm, I had a small sweat and burned over 600 calories, yet the New Active Zones/Minutes tells me I was only in Fat Burn for 1 of the 67 minutes I walked.  I was apparently not in Fat Burn for the remaining 66 minutes.

This is clearly nonsense, and I have been in Fat Burn during a brisk walk for the last 3 years of using Fitbit.  What's going on?

[LZeeW]

Hello @CarlJoseph and welcome to the Help forums.  The Charge 4 uses a different method to calculate the fat burn, cardio, and peak zones than your previous Fitbit.  Trackers that give active minutes use the 220 - age equation to calculate your fat burn zone.  The Charge 4 uses an equation that also takes your resting heart rate into account in addition to your age.  If you tap on your zone minute icon on your phone dashboard, you will see your personalized zones.  Your zones will change if your resting heart rate changes.

[MrMarv]

@LZeeW -

You are more up to date on the AZM issue than I will ever be and possibly ever want to be.

I will probably turn off AZM tracking and ignore the new heart rate zone definitions - and this is coming from someone that is a bit of a FitBit Cheerleader.

To me it just looks like someone wants to redefine/interpret the AHA statement of how much of what degree of effort an individual puts in each week.

Why is it that with the redefining of the zones to match (Heart Rate Reserve [HRR]), what I believe to be targeting athletes and Olympic hopefuls and their hearts and not the average person and their whole body, the calorie burns are the same even with a lot of newly defined "below zone" activity. This is going to confuse a lot of people that have always understood that below zone burns are closer to BMR than anything - and FitBit calorie burn calculations support that.

My typical 3-mile treadmill AZM/HRR exercise sessions have heart rate ranges and averages similar to pre-AZM/HRR but the calorie burns are virtually identical. And we are not taking about Fat Burn under Heart Rate Reserve starting just a few beats higher but 23 bpm higher than the AHA definition. All of that newly identified below zone activity is still burning the same calories. And my current weight loss trend supports the reported calorie burn.

And my walking three miles in an hour or less, utilizing nearly 6,000 steps, isn't being "active" just because my oxygen distribution system is luckily so efficient that it doesn't require my heart to beat 36 bpm higher than my resting heart rate?

To me, it still looks like the Heart Rate Reserve method is just a thing that allows for the redefinition of Cardio for athletes wanting to push themselves. Well, give them the option to do so, but don't force it on everybody else.

And is the AZM just another way for someone to point out like one poster did that "FitBit users are lazy"?  I didn't say that, someone else did and I strongly disagreed - in writing.

[Eah100]

I’m in the same situation.  This was a big change.  Basically since I walk a lot (Abd am not comfortable going to the gym until COVID is over) , I will never have any active minutes.  I looked up the definition of moderate exercise, of which you should have 150 minutes a week.  It says it is exercise where you burn 3x as many calories as sitting.  Based on the levels that the Fitbit says are fat burn for me, waking should be moderate activity.   I really don’t understand the reason for the change.  It discourages exercise.

[acre9]

This is crazy.  I’m not an athlete and the new parameters have my cardio heart rate go from 82 to 105.  I will have a heart attack at the first mile at these rates.  We should at least have a choice of normal or agressive heart rate parameters.  

[rebs_fan]

I also have a major problem with the new AZM formula instead of just regular AM. I've always found the Bingo game motivating, but since switching from my dead Charge 2 to a new Versa 2, I haven't earned a single minute in AZM! I'm thinking about returning it for this reason of the new update doesn't allow option of switching to plain AM. One day I got in 11,000 steps with like 4 hours in the fat burn zone, but it still didn't give me any active minutes! Very frustrating! If anyone finds a solution, please share. I tried the online help and the person told me to make like 2 minor changes and restart. No change.

[rebs_fan]

Do you know if the update that they say is coming will allow an option to switch between AZM and regular active minutes? With the new formula, I'll be dead from a heart attack before I ever earn a single active minute. It's very discouraging to no longer be able to participate in the Bingo games and such for those of us trying to focus on increased movement for weight loss instead of marathon training.

[Bindibob]

Similar thing happened to me today after updating Fitbit software. I walked for almost two hours which  averaged 127 bpm and burned 723 calories but the Zone Minutes were recorded as a total on only 2 mins in the Fatburn Zone burning only 4 calories. The heart rate graphs in the ‘days of exercise’ and ‘resting heart rate’ however show an accurate account of my workout, the majority of which was spent in the Cardio Zone. Something is not right. 

[Letpen]

I’m on my 4th Fitbit because they keep dying. I do not like the active minutes features on the charge 4. I’m a senior and overweight so  my goal has been walking 30 fat burning minutes a day. Fitbit does not want to deal with folks like me to me so my next device will not be Fitbit and I do not recommend it for non super athletic types.  I am walking my goal minutes but my efforts are not reflected. What’s the point. It’s no longer a motivation tool.

[rebs_fan]

Months later, I still either don't earn any minutes, or very few. For instance one day, I kayaked 18 miles / 6 hours ... only got 13 minutes, and was navigating some pretty challenging spots where my heart rate went beyond my zone according to the heart rate graph (got up to 148 for a good 30 min). Definitely way off, especially considering my weight and age (turning 50 soon and need to lose like 60 lbs still)! Maybe focused athletes or marathon runners are getting what they need from the new formula, but it's certainly useless to the rest of us. It also makes it nearly impossible for me to really enjoy the Bingo games that used to be so motivating to me to try to win! Why have motivators like that if they're making it where we can't really participate? It seems like they could do a fairly easy update that would just allow people to choose which format was best for them, and we could all meet our individual needs! Ugghhh

[rebs_fan]

@CarlJoseph, @Bindibob , @Letpen , @acre9 , @Eah100 

Did any of you ever find a fix for the AZM problems and not earning minutes? I'm on my 3rd Fitbit and have loved it for years, but now I'm wishing I had switched to Apple Watch, and most likely will next time. A shame because I've developed a good group to compete with in my fit zone, and have even developed a close friendship through the app. 😞

[rebs_fan]

@Letpen 

I share the exact same frustration! Most of the groups I'm in are similar groups to us. I don't think Fitbit is truly considering who their primary users are. Don't most athletes use things like Garmin and such that track differently? If they want to recruit them, they've got to develop an option where the rest of us can switch back to the old formula for motivation before they lose us all!